Feb. 27, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

Feb. 27, 2015

New York International Children’s Film Festival has expanded and matured over years since Eric Beckman and Emily Shapiro started it in 1997; 18th annual edition is set to screen 100 films for anticipated audience of 30,000. MORE

Feb. 25, 2015

Nicolas Rapold reviews film Wild Canaries, written and directed by Lawrence Michael Levine and starring Sophia Takal, Kevin Corrigan and Alia Shawkat. MORE

Feb. 25, 2015

Ben Kenigsberg reviews documentary Farewell to Hollywood, about life and death of filmmaker Regina Nicholson; Henry Corra and Nicholson co-directed the film. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

State-run Beijing Forbidden City Film Corporation's choice of French director Jean-Jacques Annaudi to helm film Wolf Totem is surprising given both Annaudi's nationality and work history; many expected film, based on best-selling Chinese novel, to be led by Chinese director, and Annaudi's 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet soured his relations with China. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column faults Alex Gibney HBO documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief for failing to fully address way church has harassed reporters in attempt to silence them; notes that church's efforts at intimidation of its critics have eased off in recent years, in part because it seems to have focused on persecuting people who have left the church instead. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

Low ratings for 2015 Oscar Awards telecast underscore notion that, despite its attempts to make awards more inclusive, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is increasingly out of touch with popular taste; some see fact that most winners were smaller films seen by relatively few people as Hollywood elitism. MORE

Feb. 24, 2015

Pawel Pawlikowski movie Ida is first Polish film ever to win Oscar for best foreign language film. MORE

Feb. 20, 2015

Feb. 20, 2015

Feb. 20, 2015

Jeannette Catsoulis reviews film All the Wilderness, directed by Michael Johnson. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Fox Searchlight Pictures has films Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel in running for best picture at Academy Awards, continuing its streak of outperforming other film studios in Oscar races; studio has had eight Academy Award nominations each year for past five years, and has also experienced box-office success, which is not always guaranteed for critically acclaimed films. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Manohla Dargis Critic's Notebook examines Electric Boogaloo, retrospective of edgy, provocative films made by Cannon Studios, now playing as part of Film Society of Lincoln Center's Film Comment Selects series; praises work of Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Israeli men who created the studio. MORE

Feb. 19, 2015

Cara Buckley The Carpetbagger column observes that Alejandro G Inarritu's Birdman may be threatening Richard Linklater's Boyhood as frontrunner for Best Picture Oscar; notes insider gossip suggesting that Academy members do not share public enthusiasm for Boyhood, and that Birdman has already won top honors at the SAG and DGA Awards. MORE

Feb. 18, 2015

A O Scott reviews movie Queen and Country, directed by John Boorman and starring Callum Turner. MORE

Feb. 17, 2015

Movie Fifty Shades of Grey, based on erotic novel with target audience of women, draws audience in North America that is 32 percent male; most men interviewed after screenings say they were simply curious about a movie based on such a wildly popular and controversial book. MORE

Feb. 16, 2015

Director Wes Anderson's script for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Graham Moore's script for The Imitation Game are named best original and adapted screenplay at the Writers Guild of America Awards. MORE

Feb. 16, 2015

Movie Fifty Shades of Grey, sadomasochistic love story based on novel by E L James, dominates box office over Valentine's Day weekend, taking in $90.7 million; turnout could alter Hollywood's approach to movies with controversial sexual content, which have not ordinarily been linked with high earnings. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

British art film director Sam Taylor-Johnson describes how she interpreted E L James's best-selling erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey as an adult fairy-tale romance in her film adaptation. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

Feb. 15, 2015

Ross Douthat Op-Ed column suggests that commercial success of book and movie Fifty Shades of Grey is due largely to fact that it resolves central tension of the sexual revolution. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

Gray Matter column by psychology Prof Jeffrey M Zacks reflects on tendency of some people to internalize so-called 'facts' that are in fact erroneous, as evidenced by Academy Award-nominated films based on true stories that are not entirely accurate; notes that psychological research shows that correcting misinformation explicitly at time it is received helps to reduce its influence, but that applying findings to movies that mislead viewers presents a challenge. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

Hollywood is just one of many Los Angeles neighborhoods, but its name still conjures up golden era of celebrities, nightclubs, mansions and movie studios; while not the place it was 50 years ago, it is still worth a visit to see many of the cultural icons like the Walk of Fame, Hollywood Bowl, canyons off Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood's grande dame hotels, Chateau Marmont and Sunset Tower. MORE

Feb. 15, 2015

Travel Q&A with actress Sophia Loren, who talks about some favorite places she traveled throughout her career. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

Universal Pictures has without fanfare assembled 2015 schedule of films that could be reminiscent of its heyday in 1980s, including potential new blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey; ticket sales could make Universal top studio for the year. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

A O Scott reviews film adaptation of E L James book Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

Manohla Dargis reviews film Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, written and directed by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

Stephen Holden reviews film The Last Five Years, directed by Richard LaGravenese. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

Stephen Holden reviews film The Rewrite, directed by Marc Lawrence and starring Hugh Grant. MORE

Feb. 13, 2015

A O Scott reviews film Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, directed by Spike Lee. MORE